Ranking college football's 10 best transfer players all-time

It hasn't always been so easy to transfer in college football history, but these players were the best to do it before the modern portal era

It's much easier now, but for most of the last 150 years, college football didn't have a lot of transfer players.

The process is easier than ever now, but before the recent changes, players had to sit out an entire year if they moved from one school to another. But even that wait time didn't prevent some prominent players from deciding to move somewhere they thought was a better opportunity.

As you would expect, most of those top players were quarterbacks. But not all. Wide receivers and running backs also populate the list, as do some prominent defensive players. Scroll through to see the 10 best transfer players in college football history.

10. Scott Frost

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Where he started: Stanford

Where he finished: Nebraska

A high school football star in Nebraska, Frost first pledged to Stanford. While there, he threw the ball just 86 times in two seasons as the Cardinal slogged through 10 combined wins in that time. After redshirting the 1995 season, Frost returned home and went 24-2 in two years, culminating in a '97 campaign in which he ran for over 1,000 yards and the Huskers went 13-0 as national champions.

9. Troy Aikman

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Where he started: Oklahoma

Where he finished: UCLA

Aikman holds several distinctions in his football career, including winning a Super Bowl with the same coach he played under at the school he transferred from. Barry Switzer recruited Aikman at OU and the two won an NFL championship 12 years later. In between, Aikman lost the starting job to Jamelle Holieway and moved on to Westwood, where he led the Bruins to two straight 10-win seasons and AP Top 10 finishes.

8. Kyler Murray

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Where he started: Texas A&M

Where he finished: Oklahoma

The former No. 1 quarterback recruit in his class, Murray started nine games for the Aggies as a freshman, but elected to move on to Oklahoma instead. He sat behind Baker Mayfield for a year before taking the starting position himself. It was worth the wait: taken at No. 9 overall by the Oakland Athletics baseball team, Murray went on to throw for 4,361 yards with 42 touchdowns and led OU to the College Football Playoff. Spurning a baseball career, Murray won the Heisman Trophy and went No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

7. Russell Wilson

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Where he started: NC State

Where he finished: Wisconsin

Another would-be baseball prospect, Wilson was at spring practice with the Rockies after three years at NC State when he decided to continue his football career. Wilson led the Badgers to an 11-3 mark in 2011, breaking the college football record for season pass efficiency, and won the first-ever Big Ten Championship Game.

6. Roger Staubach

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Where he started: New Mexico Military Institute

Where he finished: U.S. Naval Academy

Staubach splashed down in Annapolis after spending a year out west, and left leaving a mark as one of the greatest service academy players in football history. He led Navy to an historic win over Army with President John F. Kennedy in attendance, is the last military academy player to win the Heisman Trophy, and beat Notre Dame in what would be the Midshipmen's last win in that rivalry for 43 years. Staubach was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

5. Baker Mayfield

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Where he started: Texas Tech

Where he finished: Oklahoma

After spending one season at Tech, Mayfield landed where he always wanted to: Oklahoma, the team he was a die-hard fan of his whole life. And where he built a legacy as one of the greatest Sooners of all-time. Mayfield finished with 1,4320 passing yards, 129 touchdowns, and two College Football Playoff berths. He won the Heisman Trophy and went to the Cleveland Browns as the No. 1 overall draft pick.

4. Randy Moss

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Where he started: Notre Dame

And then: Florida State

And finally: Marshall

Moss originally signed to play with Notre Dame, but that school dropped him after the receiver pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery after a fight at his high school.

A probation violation ended his time with the Seminoles, and he finally landed at Division I-AA Marshall, where he set receiving records, including tying Jerry Rice's mark with 28 receiving touchdowns. Moss scored 26 times off 1,820 yards and 96 receptions in '97 when the Herd went Division I. Moss went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 after a brilliant NFL career.

3. O.J. Simpson

Where he started: City College, San Francisco

Where he finished: USC

Poor grades kept The Juice from getting to Division I right away, but he ultimately landed with his preferred Trojans and went on to a decorated career. Simpson led the nation in rushing in both 1967 (1,543 yards, 13 touchdowns) and 1968 (1,880 yards, 23 TDs) and won the Heisman Trophy by what remains the biggest voting margin ever.

2. Cam Newton

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Where he started: Florida

And then: Blinn College

And finally: Auburn

Starting out behind Tim Tebow in 2007-08, the quarterback left Florida after getting slapped with burglary, larceny, and obstruction of justice charges when he was accused of stealing a student's laptop. A stint at junior college resulted in a NJCAA national title. But it's the 2010 season that lives in college football lore: Newton led Auburn to a perfect 14-0 mark, including a dramatic win over Alabama, en route to a national championship. Newton had 51 touchdowns, an Auburn record, and piled up 4,327 yards of offense and winning the Heisman Trophy.

1. Joe Burrow

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Where he started: Ohio State

Where he finished: LSU

The son of Ohio naturally landed with the Buckeyes at first as a high school recruit, but tried his luck at LSU to get a shot at starting. His first year was pedestrian, with 16 TDs and five interceptions. But his second went down in history: in 2019, Burrow won the Heisman Trophy with 5,671 passing yards and an NCAA record 60 touchdowns while running through the SEC and College Football Playoff with a 15-0 mark and what could be the single greatest offensive season ever.

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